The Internet changes the way we will live, work, learn and entertain in the 21st century. The Internet will change also the way we will govern and be governed. Public Administrations, in particular on the local level, are fundamentally challenged to rethink concepts, principles and policies. The Internet will have consequences for the procedures and the organisation of work inside the public administrations, it will change the relationship between public administrations and the businesses and, last but not least, it changes the communication and interaction between administrations and the citizens. While more and more traditional products and services are moving to the Web, a discussion has started how to integrate the Internet in a most efficient way into the work of public administrations and to combine "traditional" with "new" services to meet on the one hand the challenges of the future but to avoid on the other hand the emergence of a "digital divide" on the local level.

The TeleCities network has started this discussion already long ago at a time, when the Internet was still in its infant stage. Now, in the year 2000, the Internet is on its way to become a mass media which affects every citizen. The TeleCities Leipzig 2000 conference will discuss these consequences of the Internet for the work of public administrations. It will analyse the changing relationships inside administrations (PA2PA) and between administrations and businesses (PA2B) as well as citizens (PA2C). Both on the podium of the plenary sessions, in the working groups and in the exhibition "best practices" of TeleCities from all over Europe will be presented.

Leipzig is an "old" media city. The world's first newspaper was published in Leipzig 350 years ago. In the 19th century Leipzig was the European center for publishing houses. The "Börsenverein der deutschen Buchändler" was founded in Leipzig in 1875. The world's first media research center was established at the University of Leipzig already before World War I. And Germany`s second radio station started its service in this city in 1924. In 2000 Leipzig, a member of TeleCities since 1994, is now also a "new" media city. More than ten percent of the Leipzig labourforce works in the new media industry. The "Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk", Germany's third largest public broadcasting station, has its headquarters in Leipzig. And now Leipzig is on its way to become an "Internet-City". Numerous Internet related initiatives - from the foundation of new private .com companies and the development of new Internet services by the city council to "Internet Fiestas" and "Netd@ys" - has been launched both by the private and the public sector in the last couple of years. Leipzig is proud that the TeleCities network comes for the first time with a regular conference into the "new Länder" of the united Germany. Welcome to Leipzig.

Wolfgang Tiefensee
Lord Mayor of Leipzig